The present invention relates to plasma display and in particular to an AC plasma display panel.
A plasma display panel (PDP) is a thin type display, typically with a large viewing area. The luminescent principle of the PDP is the same as that of fluorescent lamps, wherein a vacuum space is filled with inert gas, and when a voltage is applied to the vacuum space, plasma is generated and radiates ultraviolet (UV) rays. The fluorescent material coated on the wall of the glass trough adsorbs the UV rays, hence the fluorescent material radiates visible light including red, green and blue light. A plasma display can be described as a combination of hundreds of thousands of illuminating units, each illuminating unit has three subunits for radiating red, green and blue light, respectively. Images are displayed by mixing these three primary colors.
As shown in FIG. 1, a conventional PDP 10 has a pair of glass substrates 12, and 14 arranged parallel and opposite to each other. A discharge space 16 between the glass substrates 12, and 14 is injected with inert gases, such as Ar, Xe or others. The upper glass substrate 12 has a plurality of transverse electrode groups positioned in parallel, each group of which has a first and a second sustaining electrode 18 and 20, each of which includes transparent electrodes 181 and 201 and auxiliary electrodes 182 and 202. A dielectric layer 24 further covers transverse electrodes, and a protection layer 26 covers the dielectric layer 24.
The lower glass substrate 14 has a plurality of barrier ribs 28, parallel and spaced by a predetermined distance dividing the discharge space 16 into a plurality of groups of sub-discharge spaces. Each group of sub-discharge spaces includes a red discharge space 16R, a green discharge space 16G, and a blue discharge space 16B. Additionally, the lower glass substrate 14 has a plurality of lengthwise electrodes 22 disposed parallel between two adjacent barrier ribs 28 serving as address electrodes. A red fluorescent layer 29R, a green fluorescent layer 29G, and a blue fluorescent layer 29B are respectively coated on the lower glass substrate 14 and the sidewalls of the barrier ribs 28 within each red discharge space 16R, each green discharge space 16G, and each blue discharge space 16B.
When voltage is applied to drive the electrodes, the inert gas in the discharge space 16 is discharged to produce UV rays. The UV rays further illuminate the fluorescent layers 29R, 29G, 29B to radiate visible light including red, green and blue light. After the three primary colors are mixed at different ratios, visible images are formed and transmitted through the upper glass substrate 12.
FIG. 2 is a local top view of FIG. 1. Referring to FIG. 2, the ribs 28 are arranged in parallel and spaced apart from each other on the rear substrate. In a discharge space 16 between the first sustain electrode 18 and the second sustain electrode 20, inert gas is ionized to strike the fluorescent layers on the rear substrate and the ribs 28 to generate light. However, only the fluorescent layers coated on adjacent ribs 28 can generate light, hence luminance of the PDP is not enough. Additionally, drawbacks of the open discharge space are that the adjacent discharge space 162 is prone to crosstalk, causing interference between cells and reducing the PDP 10 display quality.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,376,987 discloses a display panel comprising a pair of row electrodes extending in parallel in a first direction, a discharge gap formed between the pair of row electrodes, and a column electrode extending in a second direction. Each of the row electrodes comprises a first conductive layer having a body portion and a projecting portion. The projecting portion comprises an end portion, and extends from the body portion away from the discharge gap towards said end portion. If row electrodes are broken, point defects are generated and thus decrease the yield.